They may raise more than one brood per season, and may switch nests or mates between broods. Indigo buntings breed between May and September, with most activity occurring June through August. Males do not sing often in courtship, but they do follow their mate around during the nest building and laying periods, often chasing other males away. Fertilizations outside of a breeding pair are not uncommon and approximately 15% of males have more than one mate. However, pairs only associate until incubation begins, and may switch partners within a single breeding season.
(Payne 1992, Robbins, Bruun and Zim 1983) They have short, conical beaks and black or gray legs and feet. Indigo buntings are small birds, from 11.5 cm to13 cm long and weighing 12 to 18 g. Females and young are brown with buff wingbars and only a tinge of blue on their tail and shoulders. In winter, indigo buntings choose open habitats, such as weedy fields, citrus orchards, savannas, weedy croplands and low second growth (Payne 1992).Īdult male indigo buntings are brilliant blue during the breeding season, with a darker almost purple crown. During migration they look for open grasslands and leafy trees similar to those in their winter habitat. They also breed in clearings in open deciduous woodlands, in weedy or abandoned agricultural fields, and in swamps. Indigo buntings breed in brushy and weedy habitats along the edges of farmed land, woods, road, power lines, railways and riparian habitats. Indigo buntings winter in the coastal regions of Mexico, Central America, northern South America and the Caribbean. There are also some breeding populations in the western United States, including Utah, Arizona and California. March 5th, 2009 in Nicaragua - Photo licensed under CreativeĪttribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.Indigo buntings ( Passerina cyanea) breed throughout eastern North America from the Great Plains eastward, south of the coniferous forest region. Further Information: 1) Cornell's Neotropical Birds - Blue Bunting 2) BirdLife International - Blue Bunting 3) Audubon Guide - Blue Bunting Photo Information: Photo taken by " Stylurus" IUCN lists the Blue Bunting as a species of "Least Concern". Indigo Bunting, Blue Grosbeak Conservation Status: Populations appear to be
Interactive eBird Map:Ĭlick to access an interactive eBird map of Blue Bunting sightings Feeders: Will visit feeders for various seeds, Reason for periodic sightings in southern Texas. However, birds may disperse shortĭisturbance of habitat in northern Mexico has been cited as a potential Migration: Considered a permanent resident Song: Song is a high-pitched warbling of jumbled Both parents help feed the young upon hatching. Rootlets, and other vegetative material, placed relatively low to the ground Nesting: The nest is a small cup made of grasses, Behavior: Forages in thickets and brush, or low in Habitat: Found in brushy fields, woodlandĮdges, and brushy thickets. Highlights, while females are a rich reddish-brown overall. Males are a dark blue color overall with brighter blue With birds occasionally sighted in southern Texas, and once as far east as Blue Bunting is found in brushy thickets and forest edges in many parts of
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